Chapter 91

Chapter 0091

“Son? What are you doing here?” Anders interrupts our moment.

I immediately step in front of Rik. I’m not sure if I’m protecting him or planning to take any wrath that comes from Anders, but I did this, so I’ll be the one

responding.

“Alpha Anders. I invited Rik to dinner tonight. I understand that you feel that this is your time with my father, and if you choose for Rik to not be here tonight, then he and I will go somewhere else while you and dad have your time.”

He raises his eyebrow at me. “You and Rik will go somewhere else?”

“That is correct.” I can feel Rik trying to move around me so that I’m not in such a protective stance, but I’m subtly moving to keep him where he is. Behind me. Anders eyes moving back and forth between us.

“Anders,” my father calls, rolling toward us. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet about taking on Guardians?” Anders looks at me another moment before a smile spreads across his face. “You’re right Clint. Taking on your little badass once was enough for me.” And he turns and follows my father outside to the grill. I turn back to Rik. “Well, come on in then.” As he passes me, he leans in and kisses my cheek again, causing me to blush.

As we head to the kitchen, I point to the stairs. “I’ll be right back, I only have one vase and it’s upstairs.” He takes the flowers from me while I run up the stairs to my room to get the vase filled with the now dead roses. I bring them downstairs and see that Rik is looking around the house.

When I reach the bottom stair, he turns and smiles at me. “It’s cozy, it has a homey feel to it, I like it.” I stop and look around. I’d never given much thought to how cozy our house is. It has been my home for most of my life, so it’s always felt like home to me. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

He nods his head at the vase of dead roses in my hand. “You still have them?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out, so…yeah, I still have them.”

He walks over, taking the vase from my hand, giving me the roses in his. “I’ll be happy to replace them any time you need fresh ones. Where is your garbage can?” I point to where our garbage is and he throws out the old flowers, going to the sink to rinse out the vase and put fresh water in it. He takes the flowers from me and puts them in the vase. “Where do you want them?”

+15 BONOS

“How about the dining room table for now. I’ll probably put them in my room later.”

“Dining room table it is. So, what’s for dinner? Something smells delicious.”

“Our dads always have steak on Thursday. I’m not sure if it’s become a tradition or if they just really like steak and make sure they get it once a week, but Thursday is steak night in this house.”

“Steak is good. But that’s not what I’m smelling.”

“Oh, I made a lobster mac and cheese. I hope you like that sort of thing.”

He walks over and puts his hands on my hips, gently pulling me toward him. You made me lobster mac and cheese?”

“Well, it…it’s for everyone.” I’m so nervous around him that I’m stumbling on my words. I don’t know what to do with my hands, and they end up on his chest. I can feel the heat of his body through our clothes. His chest under my hands is firm and muscular. I wonder what it would feel like to run my hands over his chest, down his abdomen to the line of his jeans. I’m overwhelmed by the scent of him. Like most shifters, he smells like the forest. But more than that, he smells strongly of brownies. It’s the same comforting scent I smelled when he rescued me. He said our house felt homey, but he smells like home. Like the place you come to at the end of a long, hard day when you need to relax and unwind. Your place of safety and comfort.